YOGA & THE VOICE / YOGA & LA VOIX

In the workshops that I give on ‘Yoga, the Breath and the Voice’, I draw on my experience and technique as a professional singer and singing teacher and blend it with my practice and journey as a yoga student.

The parallels are many - that’s why yoga and singing complement each other. They both depend on:

the breath,

alignment,

awareness,

mental concentration

the ability to co-ordinate the body with the mind.

From my own work I know what singers go through to find their voice, develop it and then bite into the challenge to keep it strong, supple and healthy as possible in every situation - on stage, in a studio, on tour, before an audition panel, during public speaking or in everyday life.

With yoga and in singing, striving to discover space and to expand into it, impacts on our breath and resonance. It’s absolutely liberating and mind-blowing!

I can promise you it’s pure elation!

The quality of the breath is paramount in the practice for anyone using their voice. Once the breath finds its quiet and stable home deep within the sanctuary of a calm body, then the rest will also find its place.

Freedom and endurance are the cornerstones for singers and yogis. Both require flexibility and strength. That’s why it’s essential to seek space and awareness right down to every cell and use these often neglected places to host the breath and develop resonance.

I adapt these techniques to each individual’s needs and capacities. By re-establishing awareness in the body and in the mind, I can then help the student find or restore balance and alignment - physically and vocally. By taking risks - vocally or physically - hanging upside down in a posture we haven’t tried since kinder-garden, for instance - can give rise to amazing courage, confidence and self-expression. And from there we begin.

photo : anaël miantsoukina

"Yoga is like music. The rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind and the harmony of the soul create the symphony of life." B.K.S. Iyengar